Hamas was formed in 1987 during the grassroots, spontaneous protests of the First Intifada
It is a backronym meaning “zeal” whose initials in Arabic stand for “Islamic Resistance Movement”
It grew out of the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a long-standing organization in the Middle East with particular influence in Egypt
It has military, charity, and media wings
Their 1988 charter contained antisemitic conspiracy theories similar to those found in the fabricated Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Their 2017 charter revises that they are not at war with Jewish peoples, but with Zionists.
In 2005 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon evacuated all 8,000 settlers from the Gaza strip, which Hamas took credit for prompting
In 2006 parliamentary elections in Gaza, Hamas won a majority of seats
In 2007, Hamas effectively expelled al-Fatah from Gaza and the (Fatah) President of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, accused Hamas of carrying out a coup d’état
Hamas criticizes Fatah for its corruption, which is often persuasive to disaffected Palestinians who do not reap the benefits of aid that goes through the PA, nor of its collaboration with Israel